Gretchen Wilson: ‘There Was No Incident on an Airplane’

Charges against Gretchen Wilson were dropped after her arrest for a reported disturbance on an airplane in August, but she says there was no incident on a plane to begin with.

Talking to Taste of Country prior to the 2018 CMA Awards, Wilson — choosing her words carefully — says it was a misunderstanding. She also reiterated what she said before, that what was being reported in the media was not accurate or true.

"I had to chew my tongue off because I was instructed not to speak about it," she says. "And actually there was no incident on an airplane. None at all. There was some words between the state police and myself ... that's where all of that came from."

The story went that Wilson and another passenger on a flight had an altercation, with TMZ reporting that it was over use of the plane's bathroom. That passenger never came forward, nor was she publicly identified — perhaps for good reason. One piece of reporting that syncs with Wilson's version of events comes from the police report which states: "While interviewing the accused on the jetway, she (Wilson) became belligerent toward the troopers and caused a disturbance."

Immediately after the incident, Wilson told Taste of Country she was saddened by it all. She described texting to her mother and daughter about what happened. For some, her arrest fit a version of her that isn't 100 percent based in reality. Wilson understands that singing about cheating and fighting can scare some people, but feels that she is personable. She never turns down a fan who asks for an autograph or a picture! Just don't do dumb stuff in front of her, or else ...

"I was at John Rich's bar on 4th of July," Wilson recalls, and "I almost threw a guy off the roof. I had a good reason. He was dumping his beer on children ... and I said 'I saw that' and I pinned him up against the wall and security got to me before I got him over the edge."

What? Did you think her hard-fought country songs were based on fantasy?